A large saltwater crocodile has been seen walking through a Western Australian camping site … but no one bothered reporting the issue to the authorities.
The Department of Parks and Wildlife says it is increasingly frustrated by the failure of people to report crocodile incidents, saying it is becoming a public safety issue.
According to a report on the ABC, a large ‘saltie’ was seen emerging from the Fitzroy River at the popular Telegraph Pool campsite, but the authorities only heard about the incident through social media postings.
On local Facebook pages, people described the creature as having walked within metres of a man and his son at their tent.
District wildlife officer Peter Carstairs told the ABC it was a frustrating situation.
“Nobody’s made a formal complaint, it’s only come through on Facebook, so we’d like the complainant to come forward and speak to us,” he said. “If people have this information, or know of animals getting too close, we need to know, so that we can act upon it and respond to the complaints.”
Photographs have emerged of the crocodile’s tracks left in the river bed.
Despite not having been able to speak with witnesses, the department is now planning to install traps at Telegraph Pool, in a bid to remove the animal.
Professional fisherman Richard McFarlane, told the ABC he often saw risky behaviour, from both locals and tourists.
“If you’re camped along the river’s edge and you go in and out of there every day, they’re going to know where you are, they can sense that you’re there,” he said. “And if you’re going into the same billabong swimming every day, they’re going to seize the opportunity, and unfortunately that’s when things are going to go unstuck.”
He said a lot of people caught fish and left the carcasses on the bank, enticing the crocodiles.
